3 Tips for Avoiding GMOs on Your Menu

August 27th, 2012 by bird

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3 Tips for Avoiding GMOs on Your Menu

There has been a lot of controversy over GMOs in the general food supply recently. While restaurants have not seen a huge demand for non-GMO menu items… it’s coming! So what can you do to avoid GMOs on your menu? Here’s a few tips:

1. Check the Price Look-Up Code (PLUs) on your produce!

Conventionally grown food has a 4-digit number, such as bananas (4011)

Organic foods are identified by a 5-digit number that begins with 9, such as organic bananas (94011)

Genetically modified food has a 5-digit number that begins with 8, such as GMO vine ripened tomatoes (84805)

Avoiding the “8” isn’t so simple. Growers are not required to put the 8 for GMO

No certified organic food can be a GMO, so buy organic!

3. Avoid the most common GMO foods

Those are: corn, soybeans, canola, cottonseed, sugar beets, Hawaiian papaya, and some zucchini and squash (although, these two are much less common)

Look for dairy with no rBGH, rBST or any artificial hormones

If your restaurant is going to go through the effort of avoiding GMOs, then it’s important to let customers know through menu labeling. A simple “GMO Free” menu label can drive customers to specialized dishes.